Willie Loomis
"There's a lot of things we deserve but never get. And there's things we get but don't deserve." - Willie Loomis William Hollingshead Loomis (aka Willie) was a young, unscrupulous con artist that arrived in Collinsport in 1967 to see his friend, Jason McGuire. Life changed drastically for Willie, however, after coming into contact with the vampire known as Barnabas Collins. (In parallel time, he was known as William Loomis.) His first name was originally scripted as Chris. Partners When Willie first arrived in Collinsport, he learned that Jason McGuire had involved himself in a scheme to blackmail Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, the reclusive matriarch of Collinwood. Willie wanted to be part of Jason’s plan and Jason decided to let Willie do his dirty work (199). The villagers in Collinsport quickly grew to despise Willie, and his harassing, belligerent nature earned him the enmity of several people, including Joe Haskell and Burke Devlin (203, 204, 207). Jason eventually convinced Elizabeth to let Willie stay at Collinwood. Liz wanted nothing to do with the violent young man, but Jason forced her to consent (203). Almost immediately, Willie began harassing Elizabeth’s daughter, Carolyn, and the governess, Vicki. Carolyn was even forced to threaten Willie with a gun in order to protect herself (204). Burke Devlin volunteered to usher Willie out of town, but he had no intention of leaving. The two finally came to blows at the Blue Whale, and Burke slapped him down to the floor (205, 207). During his stay at Collinwood, Willie took notice of a portrait of a Collins ancestor named Barnabas Collins (205). The image of Barnabas showed him wearing fine jewellery, and Willie began to wonder what may have become of the antique gems. The Collins family housekeeper, Sarah Johnson, told Willie a legend about an ancestor named Naomi Collins, who was allegedly buried in the Collins family mausoleum with all of her jewellery (211). This sparked Willie’s interest greatly, and he enacted upon a scheme to acquire the Collins family jewels for himself without alerting his good friend, Jason McGuire (209). The Vampire One evening in 1967, Willie broke into the Collins family mausoleum. In an effort to disinter the remains of one of the Collins ancestors, he inadvertently discovered a secret room in the rear of the crypt. Inside was a single coffin wrapped in large, heavy chains. Willie removed the chains and opened the coffin. Rather than a cache of jewellery, however, Willie found the vampire Barnabas Collins (210). Barnabas attacked Willie and made him his unwilling servant. Willie eventually made his way back to Collinwood, but fell gravely ill as a result of having large quantities of blood drained from his body (215-216). Barnabas and Willie moved into the Old House, and Barnabas then began to force Willie to bring him a person or animal for him to feed on. (220, 224) Barnabas' affections soon fell to Maggie Evans (221). He eventually kidnapped her and made her believe she was his long-lost love, Josette (235). She soon remembered who she was and attempted to stab Barnabas in his coffin, but Willie, under the influence of Barnabas, stopped her (250). While in the basement alone by Barnabas' coffin, she again tried to stake him, but he awakened and stopped her, locking her in a cell (250). Willie eventually discovered that Barnabas planned to do away with Maggie, and in an attempt to free her from her doom, he put poison in a glass of milk and told her she could choose it as a less violent death (260). When Maggie escaped from Barnabas and was sent to Windcliff Sanitarium, Willie (along with the rest of Collinsport), believed her to be dead and he felt responsible (264). With the help of Sarah Collins' ghost, Maggie escaped from Windcliff and returned to Collinsport (294). Barnabas became afraid that she might remember what happened to her, despite Julia Hoffman's assurances (296, 322). When Maggie and her father, Sam Evans, decided to pretend that Maggie's memory was returning in order to trap the kidnapper, Barnabas became desperate and told Willie of his plans to kill Maggie (321). Willie did not want Maggie to die, so went to her house to warn her about Barnabas. In trying to get into her bedroom, he inadvertently sprung the trap meant for the kidnapper, was shot five times in the back, and fell into a coma (322). When Willie awoke, he had gone insane and was sent to Windcliff (329). He later returned from Windcliff, but as a result of the trauma, he remained unhinged (483). Willie also developed a hatred for Joe Haskell, because Joe was Maggie's boyfriend (497, 514). Despite his trauma, he eventually proved himself invaluable to Barnabas—going to great lengths to protect his secret. Willie eventually formed a solid friendship with both Barnabas and Julia Hoffman. Barnabas' torture of Willie * It is assumed that Willie lost far more blood than was normal from Barnabas' bite when he first discovered the coffin—at that time, Barnabas had not had any blood for more than 170 years. (210) * Willie gets beaten by Barnabas with his wolf's-head cane for telling Victoria Winters that Maggie was at Eagle Hill Cemetery (230). * In early episodes, Barnabas forces Willie to attack girls and kill cows to satisfy his need for blood (220, 221). Relationships In his early years, during his friendship with Jason McGuire, Willie was known to harass people, especially attractive young women. He accosted Maggie Evans (202) and Victoria Winters (203). Carolyn Stoddard once had to pull a gun on him in order to defend herself from his unwanted advances. During his time at the Old House, Willie's personality changed and he became a much more sensitive person. He fell in love with Maggie Evans during her imprisonment by Barnabas and made several attempts to win her affections. Throughout the years, it became clear that she saw him merely as a friend, but he never truly got over her. After his release from Windcliff, Willie met and fell in love with a girl named Roxanne. Very little is known about her other than the fact that she had a sister in New York named Sue Agatha. Although they were engaged to be married, the relationship ended shortly after his return to Collinwood. In later years he was married to Jessica Griffin. Life * Willie had a fondness for foreign cigarettes (216). * Willie was a bad liar (230). * Although he kept it a secret, his middle name was Hollingshead (972). Appearances 199, 202, 203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 215, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 224, 230, 232, 234, 237, 238, 239, 243, 245, 247, 248, 250, 251, 253, 254, 255, 256, 258, 260, 264, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 282, 286, 287, 289, 291, 293, 300, 301, 304, 305, 310, 311, 312, 314, 316, 319, 320, 321, 322, 328, 329, 483, 484, 485, 493, 494, 497, 498, 500, 502, 503, 506, 514, 515, 516, 522, 531, 536, 537, 540, 552, 560, 561, 562, 564, 566, 570, 574, 582, 583, 584, 587, 588, 589, 590, 593, 598, 599, 616, 621, 666, 667, 696, 956, 957, 970, 971, 972, 1099, 1100, 1105, 1106 Loomis, Willie Loomis, Willie